The Scotton Landing boat ramp and fishing pier on the St. Jones River will be closed starting Nov. 7 while DNREC reconstructs the facility with a new ramp and courtesy dock expected to be in use spring 2024. /DNREC photo

New Ramp, Courtesy Dock and Repaved Parking Lot Coming Next Spring

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today that the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife boat ramp facility at Scotton Landing (also known as Barkers Landing) on the St. Jones River, and located off Trap Shooters Road near Magnolia, will be closed for reconstruction starting Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

The Scotton Landing project is anticipated to be completed by April 1, 2024, weather notwithstanding. The project includes a new boat ramp, a new courtesy dock, and a repaved parking lot. The fishing pier at Scotton Landing also will be closed during this reconstruction project.

Design features of the new ramp include extending the ramp into deeper water to aid boaters launching at low tide, supporting the ramp with timber piles, and protecting the ramp from scouring with steel sheet piles. In addition to the ramp, a new L-shaped courtesy dock, which allows for easier maneuverability in the river for launching and temporary mooring while boaters retrieve their vehicle, will be installed.

The nearest tidal boat ramps that may be used alternatively during the Scotton Landing closure are the Lebanon Landing (also on the St. Jones and in proximity to Magnolia) and Bowers Beach Boat Ramps.

For more information related to the Scotton Landing closure, call the DNREC Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Joanna Wilson, joanna.wilson@delaware.gov; Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov

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DNREC has revised the recreational striped bass size limit for Delaware to comply with emergency conservation action taken by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. /DNREC graphic Duane Raver Jr.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced that Delaware’s recreational striped bass size limit regulation has been revised effective May 21 to ensure compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) emergency action taken earlier this month. The revision changes the recreational striped bass size limit from a slot of 28 to 35 inches to a smaller 28-to-31-inch slot.

Slot limits are increasingly used in fisheries management for conservation of species on the rebound from diminished stocks. The rationale behind a slot limit is that it will protect fish too small to have spawned and reproduced – as are most striped bass smaller than 28 inches in length – while allowing larger fish of the species above the slot limit, most of them fecund females, to continue to reproduce.

The ASMFC took the emergency action in response to the unprecedented magnitude of 2022 recreational striper harvest (3,482,819 fish), which nearly doubled that of 2021 (1,858,386 fish). In weighing the 2022 recreational harvest alongside ASMFC’s new stock rebuilding projections, the estimated probability of striper spawning stock rebuilding to a 2029 target dropped from 97% under the lower 2021 recreational fishing mortality rate to less than 15% if the 2022 mortality rate were to continue each year.

The emergency 31-inch maximum size limit slot for 2023 is expected to reduce harvest of the strong 2015-year striped bass class, which will enable the opportunity for more fish from the exceptional 2015 class to spawn. There is no change through the ASMFC’s emergency action or DNREC’s regulatory revision to Delaware’s one-striped bass possession limit or to the recreational striper season, which is open year-round.

In addition, the ASMFC emergency action does not affect Delaware’s summer striped bass slot season – which allows anglers fishing Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and the tidal tributaries of the river and bay to possess one striped bass 20 to 25 inches long daily from July 1 through Aug. 31.

The new size limit can be found in the online version of the 2023 Delaware Fishing Guide. For more information about the revised regulation, anglers can call the DNREC Fisheries Section at 739-9914.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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The new Delaware Reef guide is available on the DNREC website at de.gov/artificialreefs and also can be obtained in hard copy through the DNREC Fisheries Section by going to the link above and filling out a request form. /DNREC photo

The new 2023-2024 Delaware Reef Guide covering Delaware’s artificial fishing reefs in the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean is now available. Published by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the updated guide includes artificial reef program history and the value of the reef program to the coastal economy, along with individual reef site descriptions, reef material deployments, reef coordinates and maps, and a quick reference guide to fishing hot spots. The guide’s maps were created with the assistance of the Delaware Department of Technology and Information.

Delaware’s increasingly popular Artificial Reef Program was initiated by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife in 1995 to sustain important marine fisheries, increase recreational fishing opportunities and expand tourism. Delaware has 14 federally-permitted artificial reef sites in the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean, with 12 sites having had artificial reef materials deployed consisting of clean, durable and stable natural rock; construction materials; boats and subway cars to create new habitat for a variety of marine organisms to include recreationally important structure-oriented fish species.

Materials added to the artificial reefs over the last five years since the previous reef guide was published have included approximately 2 million tons of rock removed from the Delaware River navigational channel, more than 13,000 tons of concrete and several large retired marine fishing vessels, transport ferries and military ships. Video of recent sinkings are available on the DNREC YouTube channel.

The Delaware Artificial Reef Program and Delaware Reef Guide are funded by federal Sport Fish Restoration funds generated from anglers purchasing fishing equipment and administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supported by Delaware fishing license revenues.

Additional Reef Guide information is available at de.gov/artificialreefs, where the reef guide can be downloaded as a pdf. Printed copies of the Delaware Reef Guide limited to one per household can be requested while supplies last through the Artificial Reef Guide Request Form link located at the webpage above or can be obtained at the DNREC Fisheries Section Little Creek office at 3002 Bayside Drive, Dover, Del. Future updates and new information on artificial reef material deployments can be obtained by emailing a request to DNRECFfisheries@delaware.gov.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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Brent Wiest of Milton, captain of the Katydid, landed a state-record 21-pound 7.7-ounce, 32-inch tautog at Artificial Reef Site 11 (also known as the Redbird Reef) in the Atlantic Ocean last May 5 as one of six sportfish species for which new Delaware records were established in 2022. Submitted photo.

New state records for six fish species as caught from fresh and saltwater were established during the 2022 Delaware Sport Fishing Tournament, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today. Anglers landed their record catches from a freshwater pond, the Nanticoke River and the Atlantic Ocean, where there were three saltwater state records set, including a tautog weighing almost 21½ pounds caught from a Delaware artificial reef site established by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The six record catches as certified by the Division of Fish and Wildlife were:

• A 7-pound 10-ounce, 30-inch chain pickerel caught March 5 at McGinnis Pond near Frederica by William Mack of Frederica while fishing from his kayak;
• A 21-pound 7.7-ounce, 32-inch tautog landed May 5 at Artificial Reef Site 11 in the Atlantic Ocean by Brent Wiest of Milton fishing from and as captain of the Katydid;
• A 26-pound 11.2-ounce, 35.5-inch false albacore reeled in July 8 from the Atlantic Ocean by Mike Spayd of Wyomissing, Pa., while fishing on the No Limit captained by Jon Azato;
• An 89-pound 3.2-ounce, 63-inch cobia caught July 15 in the Atlantic Ocean by Scott Brooks of Hockessin while fishing on the Coughin’ captained by Jesse Coulbourn;
• A 25-pound 8-ounce, 38-inch blueline tilefish landed Aug. 27 from the Atlantic Ocean by Dain Hursh of York, Pa., while fishing on the Outnumbered captained by Chris Graham; and
• A 48-pound 3.2 ounce, 40.5-inch blue catfish reeled in Oct. 8 from the Nanticoke River by James Lord of Bridgeville.

For more information about Delaware Sport Fishing Tournament state records, visit de.gov/recfishing. Information about the tournament and state record fish also can be found in the 2023 Delaware Fishing Guide, which is available in printed form from license agents throughout the state.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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A summer flounder. Graphic illustration: Duane Raver for DNREC

Delaware recreational fishing regulations for summer flounder, scup and black sea bass were changed effective May 1, 2022 to ensure the state’s compliance with regional fisheries management plans (FMP) for these species, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today.

The recreational fishing regulations were instituted to sustainably manage each species consistent with FMP recreational harvest limits and to provide recreational fishing opportunities. The changes are:

• Minimum summer flounder size limit was reduced from 16.5 inches to 16 inches, with a continued four-fish daily limit and all-year season.
• Scup size limit was increased from 8 to 9 inches, with a continued 50-fish daily limit and all-year season.
• Black sea bass size limit was increased from 12.5 to 13 inches while the season was shortened by 20 days (runs May 15 through Dec. 11), with a continued 15-fish daily limit.

For more information on the regulations, contact the DNREC Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914 or see the 2022 Delaware Fishing Guide.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities, and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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